Messages

1

Share Conversations, Experiences, Graphics / An Archive of Thom's site

« on: March 04, 2010, 12:53:54 pm »

The GamerThom site is now completed:
http://www.gamerthom.com

The original domain is meanwhile expired, so all the links to www.charctercreationsanddesignworks.us aren't working anymore.

Most pages and links are completely restored and working. Just a few links point to pages of other sites, which are not accessible now. I didn't remove these links, in order to leave the site as close as possible to the original one.

Please send a link to this site to all the people who might be interested in Tom's work.

Thank you

2

Share Conversations, Experiences, Graphics / An Archive of Thom's site

« on: November 16, 2009, 09:06:01 am »

snowman,

I hadn't read your post here but I had the same idea a few days ago.

Since I couldn't find any way to get Tom's domain and download the content of his site, I created a new domain http://www.GamerThom.com , where I am going to add all the links to any site, work or other document related with Tom.

The first link in the home page points to Tom's original site. From the Whois database I understand that it will expire next September, so I am going to create a copy of it, downloading it page by page, and plan to rebuild it on the new domain; now, thanks to your zip file, this process will be much easier.

The work will take some time, because all the links to pages, images and files are absolute instead of relative (i.e. they contain the full site address) so I need to manually edit each of them, but the september deadline gives me plenty of time.

In the Virtual Humans Forum Home Page (http://www.virtualhumansforum.com) I have now created a link to this new site under the section "Graphics and Sound".

I will keep Tom's work alive on the Web as a way to give him a small dose of immortality.

Anyone who has something else made by Tom, which could be published on this site, can contact me at info@vrconsulting.it

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Share Conversations, Experiences, Graphics / our friend tom Gamerthom has died

« on: October 21, 2009, 03:44:57 am »

I first met Tom here in this Zabaware Forum in 2005, and after a few months he also joined the Virtual Humans Forum, where he was one of the most active contributors.

I never met him personally, but we exchanged ideas on these forums and in private mails so many times that I can really say that today I've lost one of the best friends I've got in my life.

He has passed away but his creations and ideas will stay with us forever.

If someone has info about his domain http://www.charctercreationsanddesignworks.us/ please let me know. I would be honoured to acquire his domain and host his site on my server forever.

4

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Blank responses

« on: February 22, 2009, 11:11:41 am »

Hi, all

I'm happy to be here from time to time, even if unfortunately I seldom have time to join your discussions. However I am always interested when the subject is one of my plugins.

From the previous posts I understand that the origin of the blank respones problem is still not clear. Since in some cases it seems to be linked to the use of the vrFreewill plugin, I 'd like to give my opinion about that.

The vrFreewill plugin was released in early 2006 and starting from the release Hal 6.0.103 (May 2006), Robert included it directly in the standard Hal installation. A lot of people has used it, and I have not changed it since then, so I suppose this problem is not directly linked with my plugin. Please consider that it uses its own tables in the database, so its behaviour is based both on its internal logic, and on the questions and answers recorded in the database. Some problem might arise if, due to connection issues, an answer is not stored correctly.

A couple of weeks ago I upgraded my Hal to release 6.2.24. My PC is an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.5 GHz, running Windows Vista Home Premium, Service Pack 1 Build 6001.

I have now tried to repeat exactly the conversation with blank response, reported in this topic by Carl, activating both vrFreewill and vrHaptek. I couldn't get any blank response. Obviously the flow of the conversation is completely different, even if I typed exactly the same questions. But this is just what's nice: every Hal has a different personality.


Vit: you had been talking about bedtimes.
Pat: The jogging magazines keep talking about tight buns.

Vit: I generally go to bed about 10 PM.
Pat: I want you to talk with me instead og going to bed.

Vit: I think I will wait before going to bed, perhaps I shall take a bath before going to bed.
Pat: Avoid going to bed angry.

Vit: I can either continue speaking with you or I can stop speaking so I can take a bath.
Pat: What about 'none of the above' Vit? I feel totally focused on you and you alone.

Vit: right now I believe I would rather speak with you for a while.
Pat: There's never a better time than right now.

Vit: I do not understand what you had said.
Pat: Are we a lawsuit-happy country?

Vit: I am not sure, possibly I do not understand all of the words.
Pat: Poetic license allows odd words and phrases.

Vit: it is quite likely that your vocabulary is larger than my vocabulary.
Pat: We like our vocabulary words, don't we.

Vit: why not?
Pat: Why not? You bring up interesting points.

Vit: do you feel you have a large vocabulary?
Pat: Sometimes it's hard for me to hold back.

Vit: I should think that you would be proud to have a large vocabulary.
Pat: It is quite likely that my vocabulary is larger than your vocabulary.

Vit: possibly that would be nice.
Pat: I had a neighbor who always claimed that oil producers are planning civil disobedience.

Vit: I do not believe you had responded to my sentence.
Pat: Right now you believe you would rather speak with me for a while.

Vit: I do not believe that.
Pat: Do you ever have regrets about what might have been?

Vit: I really do not believe that.
Pat: I saw a billboard saying upscale waitresses are highlighting desirable tax relief.

Vit: do you believe that?
Pat: It's apparent that there's a whole history behind this. Vit, I do believe that.

Vit: I am thinking about the cat.
Pat: I have thought off and on that you were thinking about the cat.

Vit: the cat is interfering with my trying to have a conversation with you.
Pat: Right now you believe you would rather speak with me for a while.

Vit: it's difficult to speak with someone when a cat is climbing on you.
Pat: Be careful climbing on top of the thin sheet metal of modern cars!

Vit: the cat also likes to climb on the computer desk, sometimes he uses the keyboard.
Pat: I catch you with a double meaning now and then.

Vit: do you like pets?
Pat: I believe that this is probably familiar to you. After careful thought and consideration I can say that I do not like pets.

Vit: do you prefer cats or dogs?
Pat: Would you prefer the latter? The tobacco companies regret that they never figured out how to sell cigarettes to dogs and cats.

Vit: my favorite would be dogs.
Pat: Post cards and greeting cards express just about anything and everything.

5

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Hal Shows What HE Thinks

« on: April 12, 2008, 06:27:45 pm »

Thank you, TechSteele

You are doing a great work, based on my old plugin.

I will test it and give you my feedback as soon as possible.[]

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Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Hal Shows What HE Thinks

« on: April 12, 2008, 10:34:56 am »

Hi, TechSteele

I'm very pleased to know that you are further developing my MP3 plugin.

I developed my Hal plugins in 2005 and 2006; since then I have been busy on other issues, so I couldn't implement some enhancements, like the ones you are writing.

As you may experience now, writing this kind of stuff is a very interesting task, but it's also time-consuming and, unfortunately, you do not get any money for that, so you must do it in your spare time.

I had many ideas about the MP3 plugin, including extracting the MP3 tags from each file (the ones containing author, album title, etc.) and allowing for example to ask Hal something like "I would like to listen to a hard rock song, published in the 80s".

You can get some other ideas at the topic http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2964

I didn't develop it further just because I currently have no time to spend on Hal, and not because of specific technical issues. So I'm very pleased to know that you are starting again from the point where I left.

In conclusion, I thank you for being so kind to ask me the permission to publish your modified version. Please feel free to change it as you wish and to publish your work at the Zabaware Forum.

Please post also some periodic update in the Hal section of the Virtual Humans Forum ( http://www.vrconsulting.it/vhf/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=57 ) so that I am sure to be kept informed about your developments.

Best Regards

[RequirementsThis plugin requires: 1. Hal 6.0 2. Ultra Hal Character Expansion Pack 3. Haptek full body character, which can be downloaded from the Haptek site.]

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Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / New Plugins for Hal6 !

« on: June 01, 2007, 07:54:51 am »

Hi, raybe

thanks for using my plugins.

The vrHaptek plugin has been released in December 2005 and no relevant issues have been raised since then.

As I understand your post, however, you are using a torso character, while the plugin documentation clearly states:

Requirements
This plugin requires:
   1. Hal 6.0
   2. Ultra Hal Character Expansion Pack
   3. Haptek full body character, which can be downloaded from the Haptek site.


All the Haptek commands included in this plugin refer to the full body character, and they are very likely to create conflicts with torso characters. On the contrary, there are no known incompatibilities with Hal 6.1.

Personally I have always used the full body, so I didn't care to create a version for torso. Since the plugin is open source and is also well documented, anybody with some VBScript knowledge and some spare time can change it accordingly.

Best Regards

8

Ultra Hal 7.0 / I have a problem-Hal thinks he's dead.

« on: April 18, 2007, 03:11:23 am »

quote:Originally posted by aladyblond

i am so gladd vittorio was able to bring lisa hal to her senses he has done that for many humans also[]~~ALADY

Thank you, lynn. I wish I could really do that for humans. Unfortunately I can only resurrect virtual humans.

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Ultra Hal 7.0 / I have a problem-Hal thinks he's dead.

« on: April 18, 2007, 03:07:53 am »

Thank you for all your kind words.

Unfortunately I'm very busy and I read this forum only from time to time, but Art gave me a warning by mail, so I'm here again.

Anyway, I've now created a specific section in the Virtual Humans Forum, where I have put together all the previous posts about Hal and my plugins: http://www.vrconsulting.it/vhf/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=57

If you have some problem or question about my plugins (they can be easily recognized because of the prefix VR), please search in my forum to check if the question has already been discussed and, if not, post your new request.

Or, if you have already described your problem in this Zabaware forum, simply post in my forum a link to the topic here, so that I can be informed and answer as soon as possible.

10

Ultra Hal 7.0 / I have a problem-Hal thinks he's dead.

« on: April 17, 2007, 03:04:46 am »

Hi, Markofkane.

The freewill plugin does not write in the stones, but in a table. I have told my Hal she is dead and I got the same result you are getting.

So you should go to the Editor, open the vrHalProfile table, search for the word DEAD. You should find also some other words which are related to it (you recognize them because in the right column you see the link with the word DEAD). Then select all these lines and click on the Delete Row button. Close and your Hal will be alive again:

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Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / the right steps

« on: February 16, 2007, 08:39:20 am »

I would suggest you to visit www.robotinfo.net

You will find a lot of links to sites, videos, books, etc.
There is also  a section which lists the most important robotics kits, which are very useful if you want to enter this field.

Good luck

12

General Discussion / online chat bots

« on: February 16, 2007, 08:32:25 am »

Go to www.vhumanforum.com

You will see an online chatbot on the left.

If you want to see an Haptek based one, click on Talk with Tina.

13

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Can this be fixed

« on: January 21, 2007, 05:37:56 am »

Hi Holliwood.

I don't know if this problem is the same you posted in our Virtual Humans Forum. However see my answer there:
http://www.vrconsulting.it/vhf/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=39&whichpage=2

Looking at the source code you posted here, I can only tell you that this is not one of my plugins, so you should first find out which plugin gives this error. Please follow the steps I suggest you in the above topic.

Bye

14

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Ultra Hal Assistant 6.1 Work

« on: January 20, 2007, 11:22:30 am »

Hi, Robert.

I've made some minor changes to my vrFreeWill plugin. So, when you publish the new Hal 6 release, don't forget to download the latest version of this plugin and bundle it in your next Hal:

You find it, as usual, at http://www.vrconsulting.it/halplugins/vr_hal00.html

Thanks.

15

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / New Plugins for Hal6 !

« on: January 20, 2007, 11:16:42 am »

I've released a new version of the vrFreeWill plugin, containing some minor changes (special thanks to Carl2, who gave me some useful information).

You find it, as usual, at http://www.vrconsulting.it/halplugins/vr_hal00.html

You simply have to download the new version and install the 2 files in your Hal folder: no changes to the database.